furniture27 said:
"This is a great idea. I gets lots of questions from loft and small apartment dwellers each week...." [read]
arerea said:
"Those students totally rock! There's a real problem if the streets all around the school are not safe- the school should have already been look..." [read]
Jessica said:
"Cars, even if they are electric, are highly inefficient. Good city planning, bike trails and train systems, and pedestrian friendly communities are..." [read]
fuzz said:
"what about the heat build up around the panels?
nice idea though... ..." [read]
jeff said:
"I saw this on discovery channel. They are selling at around $1 per square foot compared to regular solar panels at $10 per square foot. They said t..." [read]
said:
""Any ideas for a cleanup??"
Sure, if you've got a couple hundred billion dollars that you don't need and would like to donate.
On a..." [read]
After having their plans rejected once by British planning institutions, a small group of families has been granted permission to build a small ecovillage in the Welsh countryside. The tiny village, to be called Lammas, is planned to cover a 74 acre site of pasture and woodland.
Planned to be completely independent of national infrastructures, water would be drawn from springs and rooftop rainwater collection. Electricity would come from local, renewable sources such as small-scale ethanol production and an existing water turbine. All houses would be built out of straw bale, earth and timber, with rammed earth floors and hemp fiber insulation, and would include compost bins and composting toilets. ...
While Toronto goes nuts for earth hour, lights go out down under and people and companies around the globe take an hour to remember the earth before electricity, the news in Berlin is: Shopping! Germany well deserves its reputation for significant activism in environmental matters. But the freedom of shopkeepers to sell their wares when customers want to buy them is the political action on the street in Berlin tonight. In a special periodic "Long Night of Shopping", major department stores in the main shopping district in Berlin provide a consumer distraction from thoughts of Earth Hour.
Before you discontinue thinking up great ideas for earth hour to get mad, you should know that Germany held its "Lights Out" (Licht Aus) campaign in December of 2007. In fact, the take-home message from "Lights Out" is one that everyone celebrating Earth Hour should remember....
James Howard Kunstler tells it like it is. (Image courtesy of Dean Terry via Flickr.)
Never short on biting critique, James Howard Kunstler is one of the more outrageous commentators on the American built environment. Since authoring the seminal book The Geography of Nowhere, an exploration of the vapidity of American urbanism, Kunstler has spread his message through a variety of media, including his blog, occasional speeches, and now a weekly podcast. Billed as "a weekly conversation about the tragic comedy of suburban sprawl," the KunstlerCast delivers the goods, with inspired rants on a variety of subjects related to American places (and non-places) and the coming peak oil reality.
...
The Scene in Christchurch during Earth Hour
What negativity all over the web. "I am hard pressed to believe that this one hour of symbolism will appreciably change anyone’s ongoing habits of energy consumption. " or "I dont like the way this event has been appropriated by those very organisations who are most responsible for causing all the trouble." or writing posts entitled "Why I’m Not Participating In Earth Hour."
Loosen up. Go out and look at the stars. Snuggle with your sweetie. Think, for an hour, about how you might entertain yourselves in a world without electricity; it may be here before you know it. ...
Image courtesy of Pink Dispatcher via flickr
Two square miles of Californian rooftops will be blanketed with the country's largest solar installation - a collector cell array that could power the equivalent of about 162,000 homes by 2010 - if Southern California Edison's $875 million bid is approved by state regulators. Governor Schwarzenegger has already endorsed the project, praising it for its potential to "set off a huge wave of renewable energy growth," reports Reuters.
The first sites, on buildings in the Riverside and San Bernardino counties, could be operational as early as August - not a moment too soon for the region's always beleaguered peak load capacity. Company officials estimate that the rooftop photovoltaic arrays will be able to generate close to 250 MW of electricity. ...
After pointing out the bizarre, “eco-friendly” claims of businesses trying to rent college books to students via the internet, I recently came across a site which does, in fact, make eco-sense.
It’s not geared specifically towards college books, but it enables book-lovers everywhere to swap theirs with other members of the 2Swap community just by paying the postage to mail out a book from their collection that they no longer need.
...
Slate films what it calls the "stupidest bike lane" in Westwood, Los Angeles, that runs for less than a block and ends without markings. They invite suggestions for other stupid bike lanes. I can think of a few pretty idiotic ones in Toronto...via ::Planetizen...
Green Daily has made up its own list of things to do for Earth Hour, including:
-Proclaim self-righteously to partner that turning off all the lights for an hour doesn't really accomplish anything and is just a red herring so corporations and governments can distract people from the real issues.
-Go eco-looting.
-Get drunk alone in the dark, like every Saturday.
-Trip over the cat. Curse.
-Huddle in the basement with a shotgun and a case of canned ravioli and pretend it's the apocalypse. ::Green Daily
...
Image courtesy of Osbornb via flickr
It wasn't quite the death-knell for electric vehicles that some had feared - as AutoblogGreen's Sebastian Blanco noted, many had expected the cut to the number of zero-emission vehicles sold to be as much as 90% - but it sure as heck came close. In a unanimous decision, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted Thursday to cut by 70% the number of zero-emission vehicles that automakers would need to sell in the coming years - down to 7,500 between 2012 and 2014 from the 25,000 figure set under previous rules - reports the LAT's Ken Bensinger. ...
When I recently had the chance to chat by phone with Sam Branson, son of Virgin's Richard Branson, the subject at the top of his mind was his upcoming trip to Ellesmere Island along with folks like Will Steger and Sigrid Ekran as a part of Global Warming 101. An expedition expected to raise awareness among young people about the realities of global warming via unprecedented access to their day-to-day observations of melting ice and a changing world via the internet. So read on to see what he's up to, and how you can follow along.
TreeHugger: What made you decide to get involved with Global Warming 101 and the trip to Ellesmere Island?
Sam Branson: Well, Will Steger invited me on a trip from Clyde River and I enjoyed it and learned a lot about global warming, and he invited me on this trip and I decided to go because of the excitement of looking at Ellesmere in a way not many people have seen it and seeing the effects of global warming on the ice shelf. I think it will be amazing to see and traveling up by dog team as well.
...
First shots of Sydney with the lights out, lower picture. Not as big a contrast to the picture above as I would have expected.....
If there is one reason why Toronto went so nutso over Earth Hour, it is due to the unwavering support and continuous promotion by the Toronto Star. The Saturday Star (our big paper of the week, because historically papers did not print on Sunday in Canada) is wall-to-wall Earth Hour, from the food to the entertainment to even the wheels section. They really do deserve congratulations for this incredible effort at increasing awareness of environmental issues. See their extraordinary Earth Hour coverage at ::The Star...
It's been raining a bit in the US Southeast, adding a few feet of depth to Atlanta Georgia's severely depleted drinking water reservoir, Lake Lanier, and pulling the region out of the very worst drought category. Every little bit helps. But this is no time for Georgians to let their guard down: drought can trigger cultural apocalypse.
On Cyprus, an island in the Mediterranean Sea, the water picture is very bleak.
Cyprus on Monday ordered emergency water rationing and imports from Greece to cope with a growing shortage exacerbated by a fourth year of drought.
The east Mediterranean island faces an unprecedented water crisis which has seen reservoir reserves plunge dangerously low and desalination plants unable to cope with growing demand. On Monday, the island's reservoirs were 10.3 percent full. Rainfall has been minimal since 2003.
If you are like me and cannot imagine how you will last an hour without using electricity (can I borrow a OLPC hand-cranked computer anyone?) the Globe and Mail provides sixty suggestions for passing the time, including:
2. Go for a walk and see what the neighbours have switched off.
3. Or turn on all the lights in every room and see how long it takes before someone knocks on your door.
5. One word: Fondue! You get a great meal, no electricity required.
15. Go totally 18th-century and play charades by candlelight.
16. Look for stars in the darker night sky, or moon dance.
23. Prove to yourself that, yes, you can go 60 minutes without updating your Facebook status.
47. Sit in a drumming circle around a candlelit shrine to David Suzuki.
57. Get busy and procreate the next generation of resource-sucking bipeds.
58. Start a pool on whether there will be a baby spike in nine months. ::Globe and Mail
...
Google raised energy awareness to the googleth degree today by changing their home page from white to black in support of the earth hour campaign; their brief statement is well worth reading. While the Googlers still don't think a permanent switch saves energy (a common misconception in a surprisingly complicated issue), the awareness is good enough for us; it's 95 percent of the battle. You Rock. :: Google...
From the Green Festivals to Natural Products Expo West to the Green Living Show, exhibitions and trade shows based around ethical consumerism and green living have certainly been mushrooming in North America. They may also be getting more popular in Europe, with LondonAware08, the latest offering, being billed as “the most comprehensive green consumer event the UK has ever seen”. While the term ‘green consumer’ may always sound a little oxymoronic, we do see the need for events that raise the profile of companies offering cutting edge green products and services. We’re also encouraged to see that speakers from Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and Forum for the Future have also been invited – a hopeful sign that this will be about more than just ‘shop till you drop’. More from the show’s website:
...
TreeHugger has seen its fair share of transforming tables, but in our quest for objects that allows us to get more from less, this one offers a new trick. Rather than folding down or folding up (?), this one splits right down the middle, adding surface area and increasing capacity. Two rolling carts slide into either side, offering a spot for storage and serving. When the table is closed, they roll off into the corner and out of the way. Smart.
We aren't sure if the MDF (medium density fiberboard) is adhered with formaldehyde-laden glues -- it often is -- and that wouldn't be good for you and your indoor air quality, but the concept is still solid. Hit the jump to see the table in all its iterations. ::Draernert via ::Trendir...
FULL BLOOM 001: Chevy Volt Nation from George Spyros on Vimeo.
In this FULL BLOOM video, wherein we provide you coverage of events in their entirety, we take you to the Chevy Volt Nation event held March 19 at the 2008 New York Auto Show; running time 50 minutes. And here is the post event video we brought you last week of General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz producing some "top secret" snap shots of the Volt's lithium ion battery pack. via: Susty.tv...
EPA: Eternally Postpone Action? By again ignoring his staff’s advice and postponing a decision on regulating greenhouse gases, Stephen Johnson, director of the Environmental Protection Agency, continued his apparent one-man campaign to make his office the most vilified agency in the entire Bush administration. ::Wall Street Journal We thought it stood for "Evidence of Pollution is Annoying". See also Bush to Phase Out Environment by 2009
Nuclear Ghosts: On Anniversary, Three Mile Island Still Haunts Industry
As nuclear power races back into the energy agenda, it keeps getting waylaid by old ghosts. Today is the 29th anniversary of the accident at Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania, when a partial core meltdown in one of the reactors led to five days of panic and 14 years of expensive clean-up. ::Wall Street Journal see also William McDonough on Nuclear Power and Nuclear Energy - Screwing US Taxpayers Behind The Scenes and answer our survey, Do Nukes have a Place in Our Future?...
Lots of people are doing it, even in the blasé USA, which should be thoroughly embarrassed that Australia and Canada have ten times the participation rate. It is the one hour statement about climate change, happening Saturday night local time around the world. Even if your city isn't in the program, you can sign up and do it yourself. In America go to Earthhour US; Canadians at wwf/earthhour and the rest of the world should try earthhour.org.. What's keeping you?
...
Teva's Curbside collection, which we covered when it made its debut last fall, has expanded its offerings to include 10 eye-catchingly innovative styles, including Cerella (above, left), a feminine yet practical ballet flat, and Keagan (above, right), a stylishly rugged sneaker.
While the collection started out as a platform for Teva to experiment with the use of post-consumer materials—such as recycled PET canvas linings and recycled rubber outsoles— the footwear maker will be taking the knowledge it has gleaned from the Curbside kicks and implementing its attributes throughout the Teva line. We'd love to see Teva come up with more vegan-friendly options next, as well as switch to eco-friendly vegetable-tanned leather.
Click below the fold for some designs you may have already seen before, as well as a few you may not have. ::Teva...
Designer Hongtao Zhou just wants to know one thing: "How do you like to rock?" Thanks to the efficiency of his chosen manufacturing method -- a computer numerically-controlled (CNC) router, which creates (theoretically -- unless you feed it fuzzy facts) perfect cuts every time -- and his smart design, this slick rocking prototype quickly and easily adjusts seat height and "angle of rock" to your rocking preference.
A Ph.D Candidate in Furniture Design and Manufacturing in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources at Purdue University, Zhou has done his homework on this prototype; it consists of just six pieces that slide together without adhesives, so you can easily match your rocking style to your mood. Hit the jump to see a handful of rocking adjustments, and cross your fingers that this smart chair will hit mass production soon. ::Hongtao Zhou @ Coroflot via ::Yanko Design
See also: ::Peter Danko's Gotham Rocking Chair, ::One Rock 'N Roll Concept: the Rocking Wheel Chair and ::Gary Weeks Studio: Rocking Rockers...
Worldwide, more than 50,000,000 people pass away each year. Traditional burial and cremation practices can have significant negative environmental impact, but green funerals and eco-burials are one way to lessen the impact. While death can be a difficult subject, keeping ethical beliefs and environmental convictions in mind while tending to end-of-life arrangements can create a meaningful send-off--not to mention a lower-impact one. After all, if you gotta go, why not go green?
Sharp, the biggest maker of solar panels in the world, has just invested 72 billion Yen (~$725 million) into a plant that will make thin film solar cells in Sakai, in the Osaka prefecture. Production of solar panels will start in March of 2010, with an initial annual capacity of 480 megawatts, bringing Sharp's total production to 1 gigawatt.
Sharp claims that by using large-size glass substrates developed in collaboration with Tokyo Electron Ltd they will "dramatically improve production efficiency" and be better able to respond to the extremely fast-growing demand for solar photovoltaic panels. This should help further lower the cost of solar energy. ::Sharp press release See also: ::Sharp Sees Solar Power Costs Halving By 2010, ::Ausra: Solar Power Around the Clock, Enough for 90% of U.S. Grid...
This is the question asked by Orange22 Design Lab's Blank Canvas Project, who commissioned some big-time designers to lend their talents and leverage social change. Each designer will create a new edition of Orange22's indoor-outdoor Botanist furniture -- which are all finished with a VOC-free powder coating process -- and Orange22 will match the designers' royalty with a gift to a social cause of their choice.
On the hook for new designs are Karim Rashid, Yves Béhar and a host of other accomplished designers, who are all currently hard at work on their new creations; the altruism-driven designs will be unveiled later this year at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in New York City....
Earth2Tech has a roundup of biofuel startups that are working on turning algae into fuel. We can't yet know what will happen; Some of these companies might become huge in the next few years, or they might be left in the dust by new developments (solar energy below $1/watt and advances in battery or hypercapacitor technology, for example). Only the future will tell, but in the meantime, they are worth keeping an eye on.
The companies are: GreenFuel Technologies, Solazyme, Blue Marble Energy, Inventure Chemical, Solena, Live Fuels, Solix Biofuels, Aurora Biofuels, Aquaflow Binomics, Petro Sun, Bionavitas, Mighty Algae Biofuels, Bodega Algae, Seambiotic and Cellena. For more details, check out: ::15 Algae Startups Bringing Pond Scum to Fuel Tanks...
Unlike some companies, Honda has been keeping a tight lid on the development of its new dedicated hybrid car (meaning that like the Toyota Prius, there won't be a non-hybrid version). Even U.S. Honda engineers haven't yet seen what it will look like, and it is supposed to be on the market next year. But the company certainly can't be accused of trying to lower expectations because it lacks confidence in itself: It expects to sell 200,000 units per year and have hybrids add up to 10% of sales by 2012.
Honda President Takeo Fukui said about the upcoming hybrid: 1) The car will have a global nameplate, 2) the engine will be based on the Civic's, but will use a newly designed motor and engine control unit, making it lighter and more compact, 3) it will be priced below the current Civic Hybrid, 4) it will take its design cues from the FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (pictured above) and 5) it will use nickel metal hydride batteries....
Earth Hour has teamed up with Zerofootprint to provide two carbon calculators that enable Earth Hour participants to measure their carbon footprint. Measure yours at http://earthhour.zerofootprint.net/. Or try the Facebook version that will allow you mobilize and challenge your friends. You can also support Earth Hour by logging on to Zerofootprint Toronto and joining the Earth Hour group....
It's an electroluminescent that glows when you step on it. "The glow that the rug emits is very soft," says co-inventor Leona Dean, of London South Bank University, who also noted the innovation's party applications, "It can provide ambient mood lighting or flash in time to music as a talking point at a party."
Livescience writes that Dean and another LSBU engineering student Zoe Robson developed the light-up rug, called Footlume, for a college course, and they will exhibit the innovation at the Daily Mail Ideal Home Show in London this month.
Now if they could only hook it up with a piezoelectric generator dancefloor like the one at Amy Winehouse's green dance club. ::Livescience
...
Why bother with corn ethanol - heck, even cellulosic ethanol - when biogasoline will do in a pinch? Wisconsin-based Virent Energy Systems, whose liquid biofuel-powered hydrogen generator we covered a few years back, is collaborating with Royal Dutch Shell on a new venture to develop biogasoline, a hydrocarbon alternative that, unlike ethanol, could take advantage of the existing gas infrastructure.
This new project would be centered around Virent's innovative BioForming technology, which uses a solid-state catalyst to turn plant sugars into hydrocarbon molecules suitable for use in standard engines; biogasoline's main advantage would therefore be to eliminate the need for specialized infrastructure, blending technologies or new engine designs. To produce ethanol, plant sugars first have to be fermented and then distilled - a lengthier, costlier process....
It is grotesque how out of control manufacturing has become, and the excess, the pollution that's caused by it.
Vintage [clothing] is not only glorious and stylish, it's also the way forward in terms of recycling. Whenever I go into great vintage stores, I wonder why we ever buy new things."
—British actress Thandie Newton, as quoted by the World Entertainment News Network...
We used to scoff at yurts as being a bit crunchy granola for TreeHugger, but have become quite fond of them after seeing how light a footprint they have, and how comfortable they can be. While the Mongolians developed the yurt as a form of mobile housing, most we have seen are have been permanently installed.
Howie Oakes spent years developing a truly portable yurt, and his own words explain it better than I could:
"I have been interested in nomadic homes for a long time, and became fascinated with the yurt after weathering a number of Burning Man dust storms in a small yurt that a friend built. I started looking into what was available, and saw that the typical western yurt had moved well beyond its roots as a truly nomadic home. I think that these yurts do indeed make excellent low impact housing, but I wanted a yurt that my family could easily transport and setup wherever we went."
...
With climate change likely to be an important issue for independent voters in the coming US Presidential elections, we are glad to see that Robert Repetto, an economics professor at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, has created a website where the several available macro-economic impact models are compared and major 'assumptions' tested.
Professor Repetto offers a bottom line:
“As Congress prepares to debate new legislation to address the threat of climate change, opponents claim that the costs of adopting the leading proposals would be ruinous to the U.S. economy,” he said. “The world’s leading economists who have studied the issue say that’s wrong. And you can find out for yourself.”
He has done something marvelous and new with his website design, some aspects of which might easily escape our first attention.
...
No, this isn't one of our Onion parodies, it's real. Minnesota Representative Michelle Bachman, whose politics have been described as "Everyone will have a gun, nobody will have an abortion, no one will pay taxes, everyone will go to church, and there won't be any more pinko liberal teachers in school." has become surprisingly pro-choice when it comes to light bulbs. She has introduced the "Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act" to stop the phase-out of incandescent bulbs.
"This is an issue of science over fads and fashions," she told an interviewer, and called any human connection to global warming "voodoo, nonsense, hokum, a hoax." She continued: "Fluorescent bulbs are more polluting because of their mercury content. We are working on a light bulb bill. If the Democrats can hose up a light bulb, don't trust them with the country."
Julia Bovey of the Natural Resources Defense Council pointed out that "There is 200 times more mercury in each filling in Congresswoman Bachmann's teeth than there is in a compact fluorescent light bulb." ::Star Tribune via ::Wonkette
Find out why We Love our Gorebulbs!...
Building-in Earth Hour, 24 hours a day "The objectives of Earth Hour are laudable but, this being the industrialized world bent on tokenism and protecting modern conveniences at all costs, don't be surprised to see a lot of people switch lights off for an hour on Saturday night and just assume they've done their part. The real question we ought to consider head-on as we float through this year's Earth Hour is: What am I doing about climate change for the other 364 days and 23 hours of the year? ::Globe and Mail One hour can help switch fate of Earth "At 8 p.m. Saturday citizens of Atlanta will join millions of people around the world in turning off nonessential lights for one hour. Earth Hour is a bold statement in support of action on climate change. On this historic evening, the city of Atlanta will demonstrate to the world how, by working together, each of us can begin to make a positive impact on this global issue." ::Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionEarth Hour turns spotlight on emissions "Earth Hour may see people switch off their lights for just one hour on Saturday night, but organisers believe the environmental message will be everlasting." ::Sydney Morning Herald
See TreeHugger and Planet Green on Earth Hour: Turn Off Your Lights for Earth Hour, , Canada Goes Nutso Over Earth Hour, Tel Aviv's Earth Hour: Cyclists Put the Pedal to the Metal
, Nelly Furtado Says Turn Out The Light for Earth Hour and Knock Your Lights Out for Earth Hour
...
daryl mitchell, flickr
We have covered the issue of copper thefts before, but now that agricultural commodities are getting so valuable, thieves are going after them as well. According to Kevin Libin in the National Post, a Manitoba farmer had his truck stolen, emptied of seed, and returned. "It's somebody that knew what they were doing," the farmer said, adding that he suspects the $10,000 load of seed, the price of which has tripled in 12 months,"probably isn't too far from here."
In Kansas, police began investigating nearly a dozen reports of thieves driving their trucks up to farm bins and siphoning out tens of thousands of dollars worth of wheat. A bushel of spring wheat, which has historically traded between $3 and $7, has spiked as high as $24 in recent weeks.
In California, it's almond rustlers.
...
More than 50,000 art and design fans are congregating in New York City for the Armory Show and will have the opportunity to experience green furniture collections from design houses such as Molo Design, Brave Space, Knu, and Rhubarb Decor. For the second year in a row, Vivavi has designed and furnished the ARTFORUM Public Lounge to give visitors a chance to chill out and recharge in a setting that demonstrates the possibilities for merging great design with environmental responsibility. More than 150 international galleries will be exhibiting new works during the four day event, which is being held on Pier 94 from March 27 to 30. ...
These days, you can buy everything from hemp dog Frisbees to organic catnip to biodegradable pooper scoopers, and the eco-friendly pet product industry is expected to hit nearly $1 billion in sales by next year. You may already know how to green your pet but just how far are you willing to go?
...
We've seen solar-powered boats, and we've also seen bicycle powered supercomputers, lawnmowers, water purifiers and blenders. So wouldn't it make perfect sense to design a boat that has solar panelsand enables passengers to power it by pedaling? Alright, perhaps that's not the most obvious use of either technology, but that doesn't mean the concept isn't interesting! And while the design will probably never make it to production (it isn't exactly practical) here's how it would work: "The boat features a center cockpit where up to four passengers can sit, alternating pedaling duties in two-person shifts. When you get tired (which should be after only a few minutes), switching to solar power can help lighten the load."
See a video of the boat after the fold....
We already know that carbon offsets are not everyone’s cup of tea, but we also know that they are becoming increasingly big business. In a move that indicates just how big we are talking, the UK pioneers of the offset industry, Climate Care, have just announced that they are being acquired by major investment bank JPMorgan. While this move will no doubt further anger those who see offsets as simply a scam for profiting off the climate crisis, founder Mike Mason (who we interviewed here and here) argues that the scope of the problem is such that we need to scale up our efforts considerably if we are to meet the challenge. Just as we felt that TreeHugger’s acquisition by Discovery would help us reach a whole new audience, Mason believes that this deal will help Climate Care grow with the urgency that is required:
...
The Brit Insurance Designs of the Year, an initiative of London's Design Museum and Brit Insurance, is a new design award with a twist. First, a group of international experts drew up a worldwide shortlist of 100 projects in seven different categories. Then a winner was announced in each of the categories, then the overall prize winner. It was a strong field with lots of interesting entrants, and even the "losers" were winners. The overall winner was one of the year's most creative ideas: the One Laptop Per Child computer, created by MIT. This child-sized laptop is inexpensive and energy-efficient, and can be charged by solar power in rural villages. An excellent choice.
The winners in the other categories include the National Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, design by Herzog and deMeuron. Dubbed "the bird's nest," it is a 100,000-seat steel structure, which will be an instant landmark on the architectural scene. The winner in furniture is Martino Gamper's 100 chairs in 100 days project. This was his idea to create a chair per day for 100 days, made out of discarded, recycled, and donated bits of chairs. Penguin Classic Books were the winner in graphics for their excellent, quality graphics for a new deluxe edition. The fashion winner was Hussein Chalayan's dress consisting of crystals and 15,600 LED's flickering with light. ...
It happened two days before Earth Hour everywhere else and true to their promise, cyclists were out powering the rock concert in Tel Aviv that brought out some 40,000 people at Rabin Square last night. Karen Chernick from Green Prophet reports that "As the Tel Aviv City Hall lights were turned off...the numerous cyclists powering the Earth Hour concert took their places...At exactly 8 p.m., Israeli President Shimon Peres ceremoniously turned off the lights in the Azrieli Tower and simultaneously the lights of the City Hall - behind the stage of the concert - were shut off as well. It was dark. But then the music started."
...
Photo courtesy V. Gable on flickr
British tabloids are abuzz with news that Amy Winehouse has been invited to open a new Rotterdam dance club in September for the tidy sum of 350,000 British pounds (about $700,000).
The club, to be called Watt, is trying for a green remodel of a big, old Rotterdam dance and band venue called Nighttown. The backers of Watt have been pretty reticent about the exact details of how sustainable their dance club will actually be - instead letting the media rumors run rampant, but they have promised on the web site an energy-absorbing dance floor that will use the heat and motion of the gyrating masses to power LED lights, that the club's toilets will use rainwater for flushing, and that the different bars in the 2,000-capacity club will strive for zero waste. Watt owner Aryan Tieleman has said that Winehouse opening the club on September 4 is all but sure, though Winehouse has a bit of a history of gig no-shows. Thanks to tipster Ingeborg van Lieshout....
The Los Angeles Times bumbled a story and a concept yesterday when it covered research by Roger A. Pielke Jr., a Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. LA Times staff writer, Alan Zarembo stated:
"The 'non-skeptic heretic club' [Pielke] says it would be easier and cheaper to adapt than fight climate change."
A provocateur in climate mitigation strategy circles, Pielke flatly disagrees with the incorrect interpretation of his statements put forth by the LA Times. A debate quickly emerged between grist's David Roberts and Pielke himself over whether this confusion was intentional or not. Clearly, the obfuscating coverage at the Los Angeles times is regrettable, but we think this is an opportunity to clear up why humanity needs to learn how to both adapt to our environment as well as mitigate and heal the damage to our ecosystems....
Photo credit: Getty Images
For as long as our planet has spun 'round the sun, there's been solar energy cascading down on the earth, and, for a long time -- since the 7th century B.C., when glass was used to magnify it -- humans have been working to harness it. These days, technology is a bit better, providing electricity, heating, lighting, and even flight, but the point is the same: use the sun's warm glowing warming glow for our benefit.
Often used synonymously with solar energy, solar power is what you've got once the sun's energy has been converted to electricity. This can be done one of two ways: heating a liquid to produce steam and spin a generator, or through photovolatics (but that's another post). For now, we'll concentrate on how to use the massive and largely untapped potential that exists with solar energy. But first, some basics....
For awhile now I’ve been getting these emails from various pr folks asking me to feature this site or that which allows college students to engage in “Book Renting” via the Internet to save money while ostensibly cutting down on the number of books that need to be sold.
Of course fewer books equal more trees, and with college courses constantly in a state of flux it may be reasonable to rent as opposed to purchasing. Especially when some estimates indicate as many as 4 million trees are felled annually to simply create new textbooks.
...
Noon Solar gave us a sneak peek of its upcoming spring collection, available online and in stores in April. In addition to the popular Logan satchel (pictured above), which will be making a return in olive-and-brown leather, the solar-bag company will also be releasing two new styles: the Sawyer, a unisex messenger bag in mustard and chocolate, as well as the Oakley, a maroon tote.
Outfitted with flexible solar panels, and made with cloth and vegetable-tanned German leather, Noon Solar's hot-to-trot bags are dyed using the ancient Japanese art of Shibori, a method not unlike tie-dying that results in the textures and patterns you see on the bags. Weighing about 4 ounces, the Li-ion battery pack collects enough juice to power your cell phone and iPod. Meanwhile, women's bags come with a locket filled with compost to remind the wearer that the materials in the bag came from and can return to the earth—once the hardware has been reused or recycled, of course. (Men, apparently, are not deserving of dirt.) ::Noon Solar
...
"The average American uses 11,400 Watts of power continuously. This is the equivalent of burning 114 x100 Watt light bulbs, all the time. The average person globally uses 2,255 Watts of power, or a little less than 23 x100 Watt light bulbs.
What are the consequences of us all using this much power?"
This is just one of the questions asked by Wattzon.org, which recently published a "game plan" to tackle global warming. Noting that the problem has been addressed before (some guy named Al Gore won a Nobel Prize and an Oscar Award for his efforts), they acknowledge it's an old story, but tell it in a new way....
USDA is kindly helping the meat industry butcher its own public image. As expected, the gun is pointed at the collective foot behind closed doors.
Under pressure from the food industry, the Agriculture Department is considering a proposal not to identify retailers where tainted meat went for sale except in cases of serious health risk, The Associated Press has learned.
Had that been the rule in place last month, consumers would not have been told if their supermarkets sold meat from a Southern California slaughterhouse that triggered the biggest beef recall in U.S. history.
In this picture I took riding home today you can see a sign that says that the lane is for buses, taxis and bikes. You can also see that it is full of cars, trucks and even taxis for a change. What you do not see, nor will you ever see, is the police enforcing the law and clearing the cars and trucks out of the lane. It could be the Dylan rule- "the cops don't need you and man they expect the same" or the Soviet rule- "they pretend to pay us and we pretend to work" but the fact is, the signs and the lines are meaningless if there is no enforcement.
Either put in physically separated barriers that let concrete do the job for the cops, or enforce the law, or just end this farce. See also Physically Separated Bike Lanes and our Survey: Should Bike Lanes Be Separated From Traffic?...
"Greensters" (green oldsters) won't forget the gas station waiting lines that were routine under the US Presidential Administration of Jimmy Carter. On the plus side, the inconvenience alone led to people buying more efficient vehicles. This, in turn, had a negative feedback loop: Japan, Inc. got to eat Detroit's lunch with a dash of reliability & quality: efficiency was almost a side-dish by the time Motown car designers smelled the coffee.
Turns out, Jimmy's foresight had another plus side that, to this day, shows no sign of a negative feedback loop. Through a $25 million dollar biodiesel research program, his Administration set in motion the creation of an intellectual property bank that is a foundation of today's booming algae-based biodiesel industry. The private sector payback - although many years delayed - is likely to be significant.
Before we go on, I get a lick in. Free market Utopians are wrong. In the story that follows, algae biodiesel startup Solazyme shows us that government work creates value for the private sector. Good for climate change, national security, and adapting to skyrocketing diesel prices, too....
89,000 - That's how many terawatts (one terawatt equals 1,000,000,000,000 watts) of solar energy passes through the atmosphere and reaches the Earth's surface at any moment.
370 - The number of terawatts available from wind power.
15 - That's our current energy consumption in terawatts. Almost 6,000 times less than what is available from the sun and wind. That's not even counting ocean power, geothermal and hydro power. And lets not mention the enormousefficiency gains that are possible.
::1366 Technology: Why Solar?...
Most people know that computers and appliances are often rated Energy Star compliant, but how many of us consider our own home audio systems? You might be surprised to know that according to Energy Star "Americans spend more money to power home audio products when turned off than when actually in use." ...
Traffic jams, apart from being a major cause of lost productivity and frustration, are also a source of pollution and wasted fuel. Idling cars are getting zero miles per gallon. The Economist reports that technology might soon help drivers get where they are going in less time, and thus, burn less fuel.
GPS devices are already seeing rapid adoption, and they are helping, but they alone are not enough: Most use signposted speeds to calculate trip times, don't have real-time traffic data, and don't take into account the changes in traffic flows that occur on different days and at different times of the day (or because of special circumstances, such as accidents, bad weather, etc).
That's about to change! Devices will get real-time traffic movement data from sensors in commercial fleets, buses, road sensors, police, emergency services, and even cell phones. With that information and some clever software, a GPS could find out what the best route is based on current conditions and not just on a static map. Potential fuel savings are huge. Still, nothing beats telecommuting. ::Turn left. No right. I mean left...
After having their plans rejected once by British planning institutions, a small group of families has been granted permission to build a small ecovillage in the Welsh countryside. The tiny village, to be called Lammas, is planned to cover a 74 acre site of pasture and woodland.
Planned to be completely independent of national infrastructures, water would be drawn from springs and rooftop rainwater collection. Electricity would come from local, renewable sources such as small-scale ethanol production and an existing water turbine. All houses would be built out of straw bale, earth and timber, with rammed earth floors and hemp fiber insulation, and would include compost bins and composting toilets. ...
While Toronto goes nuts for earth hour, lights go out down under and people and companies around the globe take an hour to remember the earth before electricity, the news in Berlin is: Shopping! Germany well deserves its reputation for significant activism in environmental matters. But the freedom of shopkeepers to sell their wares when customers want to buy them is the political action on the street in Berlin tonight. In a special periodic "Long Night of Shopping", major department stores in the main shopping district in Berlin provide a consumer distraction from thoughts of Earth Hour.
Before you discontinue thinking up great ideas for earth hour to get mad, you should know that Germany held its "Lights Out" (Licht Aus) campaign in December of 2007. In fact, the take-home message from "Lights Out" is one that everyone celebrating Earth Hour should remember....
James Howard Kunstler tells it like it is. (Image courtesy of Dean Terry via Flickr.)
Never short on biting critique, James Howard Kunstler is one of the more outrageous commentators on the American built environment. Since authoring the seminal book The Geography of Nowhere, an exploration of the vapidity of American urbanism, Kunstler has spread his message through a variety of media, including his blog, occasional speeches, and now a weekly podcast. Billed as "a weekly conversation about the tragic comedy of suburban sprawl," the KunstlerCast delivers the goods, with inspired rants on a variety of subjects related to American places (and non-places) and the coming peak oil reality.
...
The Scene in Christchurch during Earth Hour
What negativity all over the web. "I am hard pressed to believe that this one hour of symbolism will appreciably change anyone’s ongoing habits of energy consumption. " or "I dont like the way this event has been appropriated by those very organisations who are most responsible for causing all the trouble." or writing posts entitled "Why I’m Not Participating In Earth Hour."
Loosen up. Go out and look at the stars. Snuggle with your sweetie. Think, for an hour, about how you might entertain yourselves in a world without electricity; it may be here before you know it. ...
Paddlers with torches during earth hour (with a lot of lights on in the background...)...
Image courtesy of Pink Dispatcher via flickr
Two square miles of Californian rooftops will be blanketed with the country's largest solar installation - a collector cell array that could power the equivalent of about 162,000 homes by 2010 - if Southern California Edison's $875 million bid is approved by state regulators. Governor Schwarzenegger has already endorsed the project, praising it for its potential to "set off a huge wave of renewable energy growth," reports Reuters.
The first sites, on buildings in the Riverside and San Bernardino counties, could be operational as early as August - not a moment too soon for the region's always beleaguered peak load capacity. Company officials estimate that the rooftop photovoltaic arrays will be able to generate close to 250 MW of electricity. ...
After pointing out the bizarre, “eco-friendly” claims of businesses trying to rent college books to students via the internet, I recently came across a site which does, in fact, make eco-sense.
It’s not geared specifically towards college books, but it enables book-lovers everywhere to swap theirs with other members of the 2Swap community just by paying the postage to mail out a book from their collection that they no longer need.
...
Green Daily has made up its own list of things to do for Earth Hour, including:
-Proclaim self-righteously to partner that turning off all the lights for an hour doesn't really accomplish anything and is just a red herring so corporations and governments can distract people from the real issues.
-Go eco-looting.
-Get drunk alone in the dark, like every Saturday.
-Trip over the cat. Curse.
-Huddle in the basement with a shotgun and a case of canned ravioli and pretend it's the apocalypse. ::Green Daily
...
Image courtesy of Osbornb via flickr
It wasn't quite the death-knell for electric vehicles that some had feared - as AutoblogGreen's Sebastian Blanco noted, many had expected the cut to the number of zero-emission vehicles sold to be as much as 90% - but it sure as heck came close. In a unanimous decision, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) voted Thursday to cut by 70% the number of zero-emission vehicles that automakers would need to sell in the coming years - down to 7,500 between 2012 and 2014 from the 25,000 figure set under previous rules - reports the LAT's Ken Bensinger. ...
When I recently had the chance to chat by phone with Sam Branson, son of Virgin's Richard Branson, the subject at the top of his mind was his upcoming trip to Ellesmere Island along with folks like Will Steger and Sigrid Ekran as a part of Global Warming 101. An expedition expected to raise awareness among young people about the realities of global warming via unprecedented access to their day-to-day observations of melting ice and a changing world via the internet. So read on to see what he's up to, and how you can follow along.
TreeHugger: What made you decide to get involved with Global Warming 101 and the trip to Ellesmere Island?
Sam Branson: Well, Will Steger invited me on a trip from Clyde River and I enjoyed it and learned a lot about global warming, and he invited me on this trip and I decided to go because of the excitement of looking at Ellesmere in a way not many people have seen it and seeing the effects of global warming on the ice shelf. I think it will be amazing to see and traveling up by dog team as well.
...
First shots of Sydney with the lights out, lower picture. Not as big a contrast to the picture above as I would have expected.....
If there is one reason why Toronto went so nutso over Earth Hour, it is due to the unwavering support and continuous promotion by the Toronto Star. The Saturday Star (our big paper of the week, because historically papers did not print on Sunday in Canada) is wall-to-wall Earth Hour, from the food to the entertainment to even the wheels section. They really do deserve congratulations for this incredible effort at increasing awareness of environmental issues. See their extraordinary Earth Hour coverage at ::The Star...
It's been raining a bit in the US Southeast, adding a few feet of depth to Atlanta Georgia's severely depleted drinking water reservoir, Lake Lanier, and pulling the region out of the very worst drought category. Every little bit helps. But this is no time for Georgians to let their guard down: drought can trigger cultural apocalypse.
On Cyprus, an island in the Mediterranean Sea, the water picture is very bleak.
...
Google raised energy awareness to the googleth degree today by changing their home page from white to black in support of the earth hour campaign; their brief statement is well worth reading. While the Googlers still don't think a permanent switch saves energy (a common misconception in a surprisingly complicated issue), the awareness is good enough for us; it's 95 percent of the battle. You Rock. :: Google...
From the Green Festivals to Natural Products Expo West to the Green Living Show, exhibitions and trade shows based around ethical consumerism and green living have certainly been mushrooming in North America. They may also be getting more popular in Europe, with LondonAware08, the latest offering, being billed as “the most comprehensive green consumer event the UK has ever seen”. While the term ‘green consumer’ may always sound a little oxymoronic, we do see the need for events that raise the profile of companies offering cutting edge green products and services. We’re also encouraged to see that speakers from Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and Forum for the Future have also been invited – a hopeful sign that this will be about more than just ‘shop till you drop’. More from the show’s website:
...
TreeHugger has seen its fair share of transforming tables, but in our quest for objects that allows us to get more from less, this one offers a new trick. Rather than folding down or folding up (?), this one splits right down the middle, adding surface area and increasing capacity. Two rolling carts slide into either side, offering a spot for storage and serving. When the table is closed, they roll off into the corner and out of the way. Smart.
We aren't sure if the MDF (medium density fiberboard) is adhered with formaldehyde-laden glues -- it often is -- and that wouldn't be good for you and your indoor air quality, but the concept is still solid. Hit the jump to see the table in all its iterations. ::Draernert via ::Trendir...
Religious groups are signing up for their own versions of Earth Hour.
This is your brain. This is your brain on diesel exhaust fumes.
Wait, which plastic is which? Get the scoop and never get plastic recycling messed up again.
Help your youngsters eating right and reading well early in life with The Green Eaters.
Get plugged in to the top five micro wind turbines and take another step toward backward-spinning electric meters.
Most Huggable is a regular roundup of some of Hugg's top green news stories. Why not submit your own green news?...
:: When was the last time you heard your garden grow?
:: Get directions on how to knit your very own decorative plant-pot cozy.
:: Make shingles and siding out of...beer cans.
:: Learn how to whip up two acne-busting face masks out of kitchen ingredients.
:: Here's a Web site where you can get free technical advice on how to fix your misbehaving electronic device.
:: Find seeds from any vegetable, herb, and flower variety with this nifty search engine.
...
Most products we encounter are designed to make us want to use them, to influence our behavior in a way that involves using it more. These aren't all bad -- things like fuel economy feedback are great positive behavior influencers -- but it's not often we see something that is designed to make you stop using it.
Roughly akin to getting handed the keys to an SUV on your way out of An Inconvenient Truth, the cheeky Lung Ashtray might make smokers think twice about what they're putting in their lungs. Would it make you think twice? ::Lung Ashtray via ::Core77
See also: ::Smoking: Environmental and Social Impacts, ::Moms' Second Hand Smoke Exposure Linked to Psych. Problems, and ::Bottled Water Drinkers are the New Smokers...
EPA: Eternally Postpone Action? By again ignoring his staff’s advice and postponing a decision on regulating greenhouse gases, Stephen Johnson, director of the Environmental Protection Agency, continued his apparent one-man campaign to make his office the most vilified agency in the entire Bush administration. ::Wall Street Journal We thought it stood for "Evidence of Pollution is Annoying". See also Bush to Phase Out Environment by 2009
Nuclear Ghosts: On Anniversary, Three Mile Island Still Haunts Industry
As nuclear power races back into the energy agenda, it keeps getting waylaid by old ghosts. Today is the 29th anniversary of the accident at Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania, when a partial core meltdown in one of the reactors led to five days of panic and 14 years of expensive clean-up. ::Wall Street Journal see also William McDonough on Nuclear Power and Nuclear Energy - Screwing US Taxpayers Behind The Scenes and answer our survey, Do Nukes have a Place in Our Future?...
Lots of people are doing it, even in the blasé USA, which should be thoroughly embarrassed that Australia and Canada have ten times the participation rate. It is the one hour statement about climate change, happening Saturday night local time around the world. Even if your city isn't in the program, you can sign up and do it yourself. In America go to Earthhour US; Canadians at wwf/earthhour and the rest of the world should try earthhour.org.. What's keeping you?
...
Teva's Curbside collection, which we covered when it made its debut last fall, has expanded its offerings to include 10 eye-catchingly innovative styles, including Cerella (above, left), a feminine yet practical ballet flat, and Keagan (above, right), a stylishly rugged sneaker.
While the collection started out as a platform for Teva to experiment with the use of post-consumer materials—such as recycled PET canvas linings and recycled rubber outsoles— the footwear maker will be taking the knowledge it has gleaned from the Curbside kicks and implementing its attributes throughout the Teva line. We'd love to see Teva come up with more vegan-friendly options next, as well as switch to eco-friendly vegetable-tanned leather.
Click below the fold for some designs you may have already seen before, as well as a few you may not have. ::Teva...
Designer Hongtao Zhou just wants to know one thing: "How do you like to rock?" Thanks to the efficiency of his chosen manufacturing method -- a computer numerically-controlled (CNC) router, which creates (theoretically -- unless you feed it fuzzy facts) perfect cuts every time -- and his smart design, this slick rocking prototype quickly and easily adjusts seat height and "angle of rock" to your rocking preference.
A Ph.D Candidate in Furniture Design and Manufacturing in the Department of Forestry and Natural Resources at Purdue University, Zhou has done his homework on this prototype; it consists of just six pieces that slide together without adhesives, so you can easily match your rocking style to your mood. Hit the jump to see a handful of rocking adjustments, and cross your fingers that this smart chair will hit mass production soon. ::Hongtao Zhou @ Coroflot via ::Yanko Design
See also: ::Peter Danko's Gotham Rocking Chair, ::One Rock 'N Roll Concept: the Rocking Wheel Chair and ::Gary Weeks Studio: Rocking Rockers...
Photo credit: iStockPhoto
Sharp, the biggest maker of solar panels in the world, has just invested 72 billion Yen (~$725 million) into a plant that will make thin film solar cells in Sakai, in the Osaka prefecture. Production of solar panels will start in March of 2010, with an initial annual capacity of 480 megawatts, bringing Sharp's total production to 1 gigawatt.
Sharp claims that by using large-size glass substrates developed in collaboration with Tokyo Electron Ltd they will "dramatically improve production efficiency" and be better able to respond to the extremely fast-growing demand for solar photovoltaic panels. This should help further lower the cost of solar energy. ::Sharp press release See also: ::Sharp Sees Solar Power Costs Halving By 2010, ::Ausra: Solar Power Around the Clock, Enough for 90% of U.S. Grid...
This is the question asked by Orange22 Design Lab's Blank Canvas Project, who commissioned some big-time designers to lend their talents and leverage social change. Each designer will create a new edition of Orange22's indoor-outdoor Botanist furniture -- which are all finished with a VOC-free powder coating process -- and Orange22 will match the designers' royalty with a gift to a social cause of their choice.
On the hook for new designs are Karim Rashid, Yves Béhar and a host of other accomplished designers, who are all currently hard at work on their new creations; the altruism-driven designs will be unveiled later this year at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) in New York City....
Earth2Tech has a roundup of biofuel startups that are working on turning algae into fuel. We can't yet know what will happen; Some of these companies might become huge in the next few years, or they might be left in the dust by new developments (solar energy below $1/watt and advances in battery or hypercapacitor technology, for example). Only the future will tell, but in the meantime, they are worth keeping an eye on.
The companies are: GreenFuel Technologies, Solazyme, Blue Marble Energy, Inventure Chemical, Solena, Live Fuels, Solix Biofuels, Aurora Biofuels, Aquaflow Binomics, Petro Sun, Bionavitas, Mighty Algae Biofuels, Bodega Algae, Seambiotic and Cellena. For more details, check out: ::15 Algae Startups Bringing Pond Scum to Fuel Tanks...
Unlike some companies, Honda has been keeping a tight lid on the development of its new dedicated hybrid car (meaning that like the Toyota Prius, there won't be a non-hybrid version). Even U.S. Honda engineers haven't yet seen what it will look like, and it is supposed to be on the market next year. But the company certainly can't be accused of trying to lower expectations because it lacks confidence in itself: It expects to sell 200,000 units per year and have hybrids add up to 10% of sales by 2012.
Honda President Takeo Fukui said about the upcoming hybrid: 1) The car will have a global nameplate, 2) the engine will be based on the Civic's, but will use a newly designed motor and engine control unit, making it lighter and more compact, 3) it will be priced below the current Civic Hybrid, 4) it will take its design cues from the FCX Clarity hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (pictured above) and 5) it will use nickel metal hydride batteries....
Earth Hour has teamed up with Zerofootprint to provide two carbon calculators that enable Earth Hour participants to measure their carbon footprint. Measure yours at http://earthhour.zerofootprint.net/. Or try the Facebook version that will allow you mobilize and challenge your friends. You can also support Earth Hour by logging on to Zerofootprint Toronto and joining the Earth Hour group....
It's an electroluminescent that glows when you step on it. "The glow that the rug emits is very soft," says co-inventor Leona Dean, of London South Bank University, who also noted the innovation's party applications, "It can provide ambient mood lighting or flash in time to music as a talking point at a party."
Livescience writes that Dean and another LSBU engineering student Zoe Robson developed the light-up rug, called Footlume, for a college course, and they will exhibit the innovation at the Daily Mail Ideal Home Show in London this month.
Now if they could only hook it up with a piezoelectric generator dancefloor like the one at Amy Winehouse's green dance club. ::Livescience
...
Why bother with corn ethanol - heck, even cellulosic ethanol - when biogasoline will do in a pinch? Wisconsin-based Virent Energy Systems, whose liquid biofuel-powered hydrogen generator we covered a few years back, is collaborating with Royal Dutch Shell on a new venture to develop biogasoline, a hydrocarbon alternative that, unlike ethanol, could take advantage of the existing gas infrastructure.
This new project would be centered around Virent's innovative BioForming technology, which uses a solid-state catalyst to turn plant sugars into hydrocarbon molecules suitable for use in standard engines; biogasoline's main advantage would therefore be to eliminate the need for specialized infrastructure, blending technologies or new engine designs. To produce ethanol, plant sugars first have to be fermented and then distilled - a lengthier, costlier process....
It is grotesque how out of control manufacturing has become, and the excess, the pollution that's caused by it.
Vintage [clothing] is not only glorious and stylish, it's also the way forward in terms of recycling. Whenever I go into great vintage stores, I wonder why we ever buy new things."
—British actress Thandie Newton, as quoted by the World Entertainment News Network...
We used to scoff at yurts as being a bit crunchy granola for TreeHugger, but have become quite fond of them after seeing how light a footprint they have, and how comfortable they can be. While the Mongolians developed the yurt as a form of mobile housing, most we have seen are have been permanently installed.
Howie Oakes spent years developing a truly portable yurt, and his own words explain it better than I could:
"I have been interested in nomadic homes for a long time, and became fascinated with the yurt after weathering a number of Burning Man dust storms in a small yurt that a friend built. I started looking into what was available, and saw that the typical western yurt had moved well beyond its roots as a truly nomadic home. I think that these yurts do indeed make excellent low impact housing, but I wanted a yurt that my family could easily transport and setup wherever we went."
...
With climate change likely to be an important issue for independent voters in the coming US Presidential elections, we are glad to see that Robert Repetto, an economics professor at the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, has created a website where the several available macro-economic impact models are compared and major 'assumptions' tested.
Professor Repetto offers a bottom line: 
No, this isn't one of our Onion parodies, it's real. Minnesota Representative Michelle Bachman, whose politics have been described as "Everyone will have a gun, nobody will have an abortion, no one will pay taxes, everyone will go to church, and there won't be any more pinko liberal teachers in school." has become surprisingly pro-choice when it comes to light bulbs. She has introduced the "Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act" to stop the phase-out of incandescent bulbs.
"This is an issue of science over fads and fashions," she told an interviewer, and called any human connection to global warming "voodoo, nonsense, hokum, a hoax." She continued: "Fluorescent bulbs are more polluting because of their mercury content. We are working on a light bulb bill. If the Democrats can hose up a light bulb, don't trust them with the country."
Julia Bovey of the Natural Resources Defense Council pointed out that "There is 200 times more mercury in each filling in Congresswoman Bachmann's teeth than there is in a compact fluorescent light bulb." ::Star Tribune via ::Wonkette
Find out why We Love our Gorebulbs!...
daryl mitchell, flickr
We have covered the issue of copper thefts before, but now that agricultural commodities are getting so valuable, thieves are going after them as well. According to Kevin Libin in the National Post, a Manitoba farmer had his truck stolen, emptied of seed, and returned. "It's somebody that knew what they were doing," the farmer said, adding that he suspects the $10,000 load of seed, the price of which has tripled in 12 months,"probably isn't too far from here."
In Kansas, police began investigating nearly a dozen reports of thieves driving their trucks up to farm bins and siphoning out tens of thousands of dollars worth of wheat. A bushel of spring wheat, which has historically traded between $3 and $7, has spiked as high as $24 in recent weeks.
In California, it's almond rustlers.
...
More than 50,000 art and design fans are congregating in New York City for the Armory Show and will have the opportunity to experience green furniture collections from design houses such as Molo Design, Brave Space, Knu, and Rhubarb Decor. For the second year in a row, Vivavi has designed and furnished the ARTFORUM Public Lounge to give visitors a chance to chill out and recharge in a setting that demonstrates the possibilities for merging great design with environmental responsibility. More than 150 international galleries will be exhibiting new works during the four day event, which is being held on Pier 94 from March 27 to 30. ...
These days, you can buy everything from hemp dog Frisbees to organic catnip to biodegradable pooper scoopers, and the eco-friendly pet product industry is expected to hit nearly $1 billion in sales by next year. You may already know how to green your pet but just how far are you willing to go?
...
We've seen solar-powered boats, and we've also seen bicycle powered supercomputers, lawnmowers, water purifiers and blenders. So wouldn't it make perfect sense to design a boat that has solar panels and enables passengers to power it by pedaling? Alright, perhaps that's not the most obvious use of either technology, but that doesn't mean the concept isn't interesting! And while the design will probably never make it to production (it isn't exactly practical) here's how it would work: "The boat features a center cockpit where up to four passengers can sit, alternating pedaling duties in two-person shifts. When you get tired (which should be after only a few minutes), switching to solar power can help lighten the load."
See a video of the boat after the fold....
We already know that carbon offsets are not everyone’s cup of tea, but we also know that they are becoming increasingly big business. In a move that indicates just how big we are talking, the UK pioneers of the offset industry, Climate Care, have just announced that they are being acquired by major investment bank JPMorgan. While this move will no doubt further anger those who see offsets as simply a scam for profiting off the climate crisis, founder Mike Mason (who we interviewed here and here) argues that the scope of the problem is such that we need to scale up our efforts considerably if we are to meet the challenge. Just as we felt that TreeHugger’s acquisition by Discovery would help us reach a whole new audience, Mason believes that this deal will help Climate Care grow with the urgency that is required:
...
The Brit Insurance Designs of the Year, an initiative of London's Design Museum and Brit Insurance, is a new design award with a twist. First, a group of international experts drew up a worldwide shortlist of 100 projects in seven different categories. Then a winner was announced in each of the categories, then the overall prize winner. It was a strong field with lots of interesting entrants, and even the "losers" were winners. The overall winner was one of the year's most creative ideas: the One Laptop Per Child computer, created by MIT. This child-sized laptop is inexpensive and energy-efficient, and can be charged by solar power in rural villages. An excellent choice.
The winners in the other categories include the National Stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, design by Herzog and deMeuron. Dubbed "the bird's nest," it is a 100,000-seat steel structure, which will be an instant landmark on the architectural scene. The winner in furniture is Martino Gamper's 100 chairs in 100 days project. This was his idea to create a chair per day for 100 days, made out of discarded, recycled, and donated bits of chairs. Penguin Classic Books were the winner in graphics for their excellent, quality graphics for a new deluxe edition. The fashion winner was Hussein Chalayan's dress consisting of crystals and 15,600 LED's flickering with light. ...
Photo courtesy V. Gable on flickr
British tabloids are abuzz with news that Amy Winehouse has been invited to open a new Rotterdam dance club in September for the tidy sum of 350,000 British pounds (about $700,000).
The club, to be called Watt, is trying for a green remodel of a big, old Rotterdam dance and band venue called Nighttown. The backers of Watt have been pretty reticent about the exact details of how sustainable their dance club will actually be - instead letting the media rumors run rampant, but they have promised on the web site an energy-absorbing dance floor that will use the heat and motion of the gyrating masses to power LED lights, that the club's toilets will use rainwater for flushing, and that the different bars in the 2,000-capacity club will strive for zero waste. Watt owner Aryan Tieleman has said that Winehouse opening the club on September 4 is all but sure, though Winehouse has a bit of a history of gig no-shows. Thanks to tipster Ingeborg van Lieshout....
...
The Los Angeles Times bumbled a story and a concept yesterday when it covered research by Roger A. Pielke Jr., a Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado at Boulder. LA Times staff writer, Alan Zarembo stated:
Photo credit: Getty Images
For as long as our planet has spun 'round the sun, there's been solar energy cascading down on the earth, and, for a long time -- since the 7th century B.C., when glass was used to magnify it -- humans have been working to harness it. These days, technology is a bit better, providing electricity, heating, lighting, and even flight, but the point is the same: use the sun's warm glowing warming glow for our benefit.
Often used synonymously with solar energy, solar power is what you've got once the sun's energy has been converted to electricity. This can be done one of two ways: heating a liquid to produce steam and spin a generator, or through photovolatics (but that's another post). For now, we'll concentrate on how to use the massive and largely untapped potential that exists with solar energy. But first, some basics....
For awhile now I’ve been getting these emails from various pr folks asking me to feature this site or that which allows college students to engage in “Book Renting” via the Internet to save money while ostensibly cutting down on the number of books that need to be sold.
Of course fewer books equal more trees, and with college courses constantly in a state of flux it may be reasonable to rent as opposed to purchasing. Especially when some estimates indicate as many as 4 million trees are felled annually to simply create new textbooks.
...
Noon Solar gave us a sneak peek of its upcoming spring collection, available online and in stores in April. In addition to the popular Logan satchel (pictured above), which will be making a return in olive-and-brown leather, the solar-bag company will also be releasing two new styles: the Sawyer, a unisex messenger bag in mustard and chocolate, as well as the Oakley, a maroon tote.
Outfitted with flexible solar panels, and made with cloth and vegetable-tanned German leather, Noon Solar's hot-to-trot bags are dyed using the ancient Japanese art of Shibori, a method not unlike tie-dying that results in the textures and patterns you see on the bags. Weighing about 4 ounces, the Li-ion battery pack collects enough juice to power your cell phone and iPod. Meanwhile, women's bags come with a locket filled with compost to remind the wearer that the materials in the bag came from and can return to the earth—once the hardware has been reused or recycled, of course. (Men, apparently, are not deserving of dirt.) ::Noon Solar
...
"The average American uses 11,400 Watts of power continuously. This is the equivalent of burning 114 x100 Watt light bulbs, all the time. The average person globally uses 2,255 Watts of power, or a little less than 23 x100 Watt light bulbs.
What are the consequences of us all using this much power?"
This is just one of the questions asked by Wattzon.org, which recently published a "game plan" to tackle global warming. Noting that the problem has been addressed before (some guy named Al Gore won a Nobel Prize and an Oscar Award for his efforts), they acknowledge it's an old story, but tell it in a new way....
:: Learn how to make your own Top Ramen noodles.
:: Get a free audiobook until 12 p.m. (ET) tomorrow.
:: A new study shows that kids with stressed-out parents are more likely to get sick. Learn how to keep your cool, naturally.
:: Get some tips for using up what you have in the fridge, and generating less waste.
:: Treat the symptoms of PMS without popping any pills.
:: Find a less-toxic pest-control company.
:: Save money on expensive shaving creams and aftershave lotions by using this kitchen helper.
:: Can your deodorant or antiperspirant give you cancer?
...
USDA is kindly helping the meat industry butcher its own public image. As expected, the gun is pointed at the collective foot behind closed doors.
In this picture I took riding home today you can see a sign that says that the lane is for buses, taxis and bikes. You can also see that it is full of cars, trucks and even taxis for a change. What you do not see, nor will you ever see, is the police enforcing the law and clearing the cars and trucks out of the lane. It could be the Dylan rule- "the cops don't need you and man they expect the same" or the Soviet rule- "they pretend to pay us and we pretend to work" but the fact is, the signs and the lines are meaningless if there is no enforcement.
Either put in physically separated barriers that let concrete do the job for the cops, or enforce the law, or just end this farce. See also Physically Separated Bike Lanes and our Survey: Should Bike Lanes Be Separated From Traffic?...
"Greensters" (green oldsters) won't forget the gas station waiting lines that were routine under the US Presidential Administration of Jimmy Carter. On the plus side, the inconvenience alone led to people buying more efficient vehicles. This, in turn, had a negative feedback loop: Japan, Inc. got to eat Detroit's lunch with a dash of reliability & quality: efficiency was almost a side-dish by the time Motown car designers smelled the coffee.
Turns out, Jimmy's foresight had another plus side that, to this day, shows no sign of a negative feedback loop. Through a $25 million dollar biodiesel research program, his Administration set in motion the creation of an intellectual property bank that is a foundation of today's booming algae-based biodiesel industry. The private sector payback - although many years delayed - is likely to be significant.
Before we go on, I get a lick in. Free market Utopians are wrong. In the story that follows, algae biodiesel startup Solazyme shows us that government work creates value for the private sector. Good for climate change, national security, and adapting to skyrocketing diesel prices, too....
89,000 - That's how many terawatts (one terawatt equals 1,000,000,000,000 watts) of solar energy passes through the atmosphere and reaches the Earth's surface at any moment.
370 - The number of terawatts available from wind power.
15 - That's our current energy consumption in terawatts. Almost 6,000 times less than what is available from the sun and wind. That's not even counting ocean power, geothermal and hydro power. And lets not mention the enormous efficiency gains that are possible.
::1366 Technology: Why Solar?...
Most people know that computers and appliances are often rated Energy Star compliant, but how many of us consider our own home audio systems? You might be surprised to know that according to Energy Star "Americans spend more money to power home audio products when turned off than when actually in use." ...
Traffic jams, apart from being a major cause of lost productivity and frustration, are also a source of pollution and wasted fuel. Idling cars are getting zero miles per gallon. The Economist reports that technology might soon help drivers get where they are going in less time, and thus, burn less fuel.
GPS devices are already seeing rapid adoption, and they are helping, but they alone are not enough: Most use signposted speeds to calculate trip times, don't have real-time traffic data, and don't take into account the changes in traffic flows that occur on different days and at different times of the day (or because of special circumstances, such as accidents, bad weather, etc).
That's about to change! Devices will get real-time traffic movement data from sensors in commercial fleets, buses, road sensors, police, emergency services, and even cell phones. With that information and some clever software, a GPS could find out what the best route is based on current conditions and not just on a static map. Potential fuel savings are huge. Still, nothing beats telecommuting. ::Turn left. No right. I mean left...
From rocking the cardboard cradle to the cardboard coffin, there isn't much you can't do with cardboard. We've seen green furniture cut from cardboard, some called Bloxes and cardboard lighting and even cars made from the recyclable wunder-material, and have e